Cloaked Escape
by Triscribe
Summary: After she escaped with Harry that fateful night, Lily swore to always protect her son - no matter what. "And it is with great pleasure," Dumbledore continued, his smile growing wider. "That I introduce to you your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, the Lady Lily Evans Potter."
1. Prologue

Prologue

Clutching Harry to her chest, Lily silently pressed herself against the wall as Voldemort swept past. Even hidden beneath the invisibility cloak, she didn't dare move until the Dark Lord was halfway up the stairs, intent on making his way to the nursery.

A muffled sob tried to escape her at the sight of James' lifeless body lying on the floor, but Lily held it back, determined to escape alive. She hurried into the kitchen, pausing just long enough to grab up both wands from the table - along with a device she'd put together just the day before. From upstairs came the sound of infuriated yelling and crashing, stating very clearly that Voldemort was hunting a bit more violently for her and Harry.

Lily rushed outside, activating the detonator in her hand as soon as her feet cleared the back gate.

Instantly, the house behind her exploded, the three bombs hidden in the walls tearing it to pieces within seconds and filling the surrounding air with flaming shrapnel. Lily was nearly bowled over from the force of the shockwave, and felt a few bits of flying metal nick her as they went by. For a brief moment, she'd have sworn hearing an anguished, furious scream, but the woman passed it off as her imagination - not even Voldemort could have survived that blast.

Leaving the boundaries of the now-burning property behind, Lily apparated away the instant she'd cleared the protective wards. She pulled the cloak back closed, then took a few minutes to calm both herself and the stressed infant in her arms.

Around them were rows of rather plain muggle houses, all appearing exactly the same, down to the paint schemes and flower boxes. It wasn't Lily's first choice of hideaways, but after being so clearly betrayed by Peter, she was reluctant to trust anyone in the Wizarding World at the moment. With slow, hesitant steps, the woman approached the house that matched an address she'd made sure to memorize months before: Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

She took a moment to take off the invisibility cloak, wrapping it up into a shimmering bundle that she clutched with the same hand supporting Harry. Then, it was a simple matter of reaching up and pushing the doorbell.

A few minutes later, there came the sound of irritated muttering as someone approached the door. " _What?"_ Petunia snapped as she pulled it open, only to freeze in shock upon seeing who it was.

"Tuney," Lily softly pleaded. "M-may we come in?"

Only the fact that she was still stunned and running on automatic manners had the horse-faced woman stepping back, giving her long estranged sister room to enter. Then, almost as if a switch had been flipped, she returned to her normal state.

" _Why are you here?"_ Petunia hissed, scanning the street outside before closing the door. "I've said it time and again, I _don't want to-_ to- Lily?" Her angry tirade faded away at the absolutely broken expression on her sister's face, tears silently coursing down and soaking the top of her singed sweater. "What is it?"

"He's dead," she finally managed to whisper. "James is dead."

Petunia struggled with her conflicting emotions for a few minutes before finally letting out a resigned sigh. "I'm sorry." Numbly, Lily just nodded, and allowed herself to be steered in the direction of the kitchen.

"Don't think I'm being friendly," Petunia warned her as she got a pot of tea started. "Because I don't want to know. Not what happened, or what's been going on, and _certainly_ not what you plan to do now. All I need you to tell me is whether I ought to expect any more of those freaks to show up at my door."

"I wouldn't have come here if there was a chance of being followed." Lily said quietly. "In fact, there's a pretty good chance they'll think we're _all_ dead..."

"Why?"

"I blew the house up, to kill the monster inside. It's all gone."

Petunia paused. "You blew up- well, I hope you haven't come here looking for charity, because Vernon and I-"

"Just one night." Eyes going distant, Lily tried to reassure her. "Just until morning. I c-can't trust anyone besides you right now, Tuney." Reluctantly, the other woman turned to face her.

"I'd like to know what I did to deserve _that_ particular honor." She sniffed, trying not to let the confusion show through.

"I know we've fought - that you can't stand me anymore - but if nothing else I know you wouldn't try to kill me."

"And you can't say the same for any of your freaky friends now?"

"I don't know," Lily whispered, the tears making a reappearance. "I don't know. One of them betrayed us - I can't decide right now if the others would or not."

Petunia set the teacup in front of her, sighed, and carefully eased Harry out of her sister's arms, tutting at the pair of narrow slashes across his right cheek, which had already closed up and begun to scar. "Drink. Clearly you're in no shape to decide anything at the moment. You and the baby can stay until morning, but then you'll have to be gone by the time Vernon leaves for work."

"Thank you, Tuney."

"Don't call me that."

 _A/N: IMPORTANT NOTICE_

 _This story is part of my HP Round Table Project. Every Thursday, I'm updating a different onf of seven Harry Potter AUs, so that over the course of seven weeks they all get a new chapter (since I have a history of losing inspiration and letting stuff sit stagnant for months at a time). After the first seven week period, I start over, but the order in which these stories are updated changes depending on what was the most popular during the previous chunk of time._

 _So, if you really like this or one of the others, be sure to let me know!_

 _-Triscribe_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Crashing after her emotional breakdown, Lily slept like dead until dawn. That was when Petunia knocked harshly on the door, waking Harry, whose burbles then awoke his mother. Lily forced herself upright, putting the memories of the previous night behind her for the meantime, and checked to make sure she had everything: the wands. The cloak. And Harry.

She nearly burst into tears again, thinking of all their belongings that had been lost, but firmly reminded herself that this wasn't the time.

Petunia knocked again just before her sister could disapparate away. "There's toast and eggs if you want to eat before you go." Carefully hiding her smile, Lily opened up the door and nodded her thanks. Downstairs, she quickly downed the plate of food, Petunia once again holding Harry for her. This time, though, little Dudley was present as well, and made grabby gestures at his cousin. Petunia sighed and walked around the table so that the two boys could study each other.

Harry reached out a hand and tapped Dudley's chubby cheek, which set both of them off giggling. Their mothers each smiled at the sight, before Lily finished eating and Petunia returned to her usual sour self. The redhead was given a paper sack with some sandwiches, apples and baby food in it, and then promptly shown to the back door.

"Thank you, Tuney. We won't bother you again." Lily promised.

Her sister glanced over to where Dudley was still giggling, and sighed. "Well... Maybe you can visit once in awhile. But send a letter first - and not by those freaky owls, understand?"

"Got it." She waited until Petunia had closed the door and moved away, then quickly disapparated.

Thinking much more clearly after some sleep, Lily headed to the home of the only people she could guarantee weren't about to turn traitor on her - Frank and Alice Longbottom. The couple had gone into hiding themselves, as the prophecy Dumbledore was so concerned over had the potential to apply to their son Neville as well as her Harry.

Keeping the invisibility cloak close at hand, she headed down an empty country lane, towards a copse of trees that the road passed through. Carefully placed charms made the place indistinguishable to muggles, but magical folk could easily spot the old abandoned cottage sitting within.

And only those with the correct password could step past the gate, and the accompanying wards, to see that it wasn't so abandoned after all.

"Anyone home?" Lily called out as she crossed the small yard, perfectly able to hear the startled thumps from inside. A moment later the door was yanked open, revealing a shocked Alice.

"Oh my Merlin- LILY!" Seconds later, the woman pulled her old friend and classmate into a tight embrace - much more sisterly and welcoming than Petunia had been the night before. "Where have you been? Are you and James and Harry alright? We just got the _Prophet_ this morning, they're saying that the house at Godric's Hollow had been attacked and blown up, but there wasn't a Dark Mark in the sky-"

"We've been understandably upset, as I'm sure you can gather." Frank mentioned as he appeared in the doorway as well. "What the hell happened?"

"James is dead."

Those three words led to her being pulled inside, Harry immediately taken and placed with Neville on the playmat, and Lily sat down at the kitchen table with a concerned Longbottom on either side of her.

"What happened?" Frank asked again, his wand summoning an extra cup of tea.

Gathering her Gryffindor courage, Lily stuttered her way through an explanation, starting with the decision a month prior about switching Secret Keepers at the last minute from Sirius to Peter, to her brief reunion with Petunia after the attack.

"And here I thought your choice to use some muggle defenses was over the top." Alice tried to joke once her friend had finished. Lily snorted.

"Hardly. Though I doubt anyone's going to believe the Dark Lord was done in by a few packages of homemade bombs put together from several dozen fireworks."

"You may have a point there." Frank said mildly, his gaze focused on the pair of playing boys. "Lily... Where do you plan on going now?"

Her sigh was all the response that they needed. Alice immediately went to the bedroom, coming back with a resized change of clothes that she sent Lily into the bathroom with. Similarly, Frank pulled out another of Neville's onesies, quickly changing Harry into the clean garment. He paused for half a moment while doing so, studying the new shrapnel scars on the infant's face. Harry merely gazed at him solemnly, which quickly snapped the man back to what he was doing.

By the time Lily reappeared, Alice had arranged quill and ink along with several pieces of parchment on the table. "I wasn't sure how many people you needed to let know you were still alive." She explained.

"Gringotts, first. Last thing I need is them enacting our will while we're still- while I'm still alive." Lily said firmly. "Minerva, too, she doesn't deserve to be devastated by this. Maybe Sev as well... I'll hold off on Remus until later, he'll still be recovering from the full moon..."

"What about Sirius? And the Headmaster?"

"I- I don't want to think ill of Sirius, but..."

"But he was the one who insisted on switching Keepers." Lily didn't respond to Frank's statement, merely bowing her head over the table. "Alright, but what about Dumbledore?"

"...I didn't say it before, but... A few days ago, he asked James about the cloak, wanting to know if he could borrow it for study." She looked up into her friends' suddenly nervous faces. "James said no. If he hadn't, Harry and I wouldn't have made it out of the house alive. And I doubt that Dumbledore could have known, but now I can't help but wonder, why did he ask then? Why would he ask at all? I just- I just don't think I can bring myself to inform him, not right now at least."

Alice and Frank shared an indecipherable look, before nodding in unison. "Right then. Let us know if you need anything else, alright? Since You-Know-Who's gone, we're planning on heading back to our own home in a day or two."

Lily shook her head at that. "I'd wait a little longer if I were you - we still don't know how many Death Eaters are out and about, and I bet the more fanatical of them aren't going to simply back down now that their Lord is out of the picture." Alice stiffened, as Frank gained a dark expression.

"Duly noted." He said. "We'll wait until the Ministry's restored a bit more order, then." With that, the three of them set to their tasks.

-CE-

At precisely four o'clock that afternoon, another guest arrived on the hidden property. Minerva McGonagall barely slowed down as she passed through the gate, and then the door opened by Frank, only coming to a stop once she'd caught hold of Lily and pulled the younger woman into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," the Hogwarts professor whispered to her. "I'm so, so sorry, Lily."

"It's not your fault, Minerva." The redhead tried to give her a watery smile, but couldn't quite pull it off. Alice guided them over to the sofa, where the pair sat and continued to hold onto one another. Lily began to tell her story again, finding it easier the second time around, especially as Minerva remained quiet until the very end.

And _then_ the old witch exploded into fury.

Everyone, even the two infants, watched in awe as the grey-haired woman leapt to her feet and began to pace back and forth, spewing all manner of curses in both English and Gaelic. After several minutes of this, Minerva finally slowed down enough to recover herself.

"I'm going to talk to Albus about this." She growled. "But first, I'm going to find both Sirius and Peter and Merlin help them if I have to fight those boys."

Silently, she gave Lily another hug, kissed both Harry and Neville on their foreheads, and then walked out the door still being held open by a stunned Frank.

"...Veeery glad I never messed up bad enough to get _that_ serious a tongue-lashing from her in school."

"You aren't the only one," Alice murmured to her husband. Lily just smiled fondly and shook her head.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sirius was a mess.

After finding Peter's house empty the night before, he'd apparated straight to Godric's Hollow, and the Potter home. Only to find his best friend's hiding place burning out of control.

He screamed and sobbed, beating at the ground at the unfairness of it all. Sirius had been the one to get all those fireworks for Lily, knowing she planned on messing with them to make another layer of defense, something of a bomb of last resort. He knew she wouldn't have set the bloody things off if there was no other way to stop Voldemort from killing Harry - or, if the Dark Lord had already murdered her son, and the woman was pushed by grief into setting off the explosion.

No matter how it had happened, the Potters were dead.

And it was all Peter's fault.

The arrival of that thought in his mind did wonders for pulling Sirius back to his senses, and the man quickly got control of himself.

James, Lily and Harry were gone. So was Voldemort. And soon, Pettigrew would be dead as well.

Sirius swore it.

-CE-

Severus sat at his kitchen table, stunned.

Before him lay that morning's copy of the _Daily Prophet,_ the front page covered with an article it had taken his reading through three times before the words began to sink in. He'd known, the night before, the very instant that Lord Voldemort was gone - his Dark Mark had burned with a fierce, agonizing pain one moment, and then went completely inactive the next. Not even a wisp of power remained to indicate his Master's presence.

Not that Severus was dejected, for he'd ceased to belong to man the instant Lily's life came on the line. For most of the night, he'd been debating messaging the woman, to ask if she was alright, but held back because of the supposed difference of their sides. Besides, he wouldn't have the first idea of where to send the owl.

But then, with dawn barely beginning to paint the world with bright color once more, the paper was delivered to his home, and it all became moot.

Because Lily was dead.

Dark Mark displayed in the sky or not, it was clear her home had been attacked - by Voldemort himself, most likely. Thanks to the flames utterly destroying the premises, it was unclear who had been inside at the time. The _Prophet,_ though, was making their opinion clear in what was not strictly said: that they believed the members of the Potter family were dead, along with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Granted, that latter point was only included thanks to some Death Eaters apparently turning themselves over to the Ministry, claiming that the Imperius Curses placed on them by the Dark Lord had been removed... Lucius Malfoy chief among them.

Severus knew how the older man's mind worked. With the Dark Lord gone, the Wizarding World was sure to right itself once more, delivering stern justice against those who'd terrorized it for so long. Any with the Dark Mark would be destined for Azkaban unless they did something to save themselves.

Reluctantly, Severus went to get a quill and parchment. He needed to owl Dumbledore right away.

-CE-

Peter was in a panic.

Not only had his Master gone and gotten killed while dealing with the Potter family, but soon afterward found the pudgy man fleeing for his life from one who'd once been a friend. He'd known beforehand Sirius would be furious, hence why immediately after spilling the Secret to the Dark Lord, Peter had departed for his safe house.

Too bad the other Animagus was a professional Auror.

Barely twenty-four hours after the destruction in Godric's Hollow, a security ward fifty feet from Peter's hovel was tripped. Knowing instantly who had apparated onto the property, the rat immediately ran. Through the entirety of the night, he was only able to keep just ahead of Sirius and certain death.

And that margin kept getting smaller.

"WORMTAIL!" The furious shout from behind the hill he'd just crossed spurned Peter on to new speeds, as he dashed up to the top of the ocean cliff. From there he would jump down to a narrow ledge, travel through a tunnel only large enough for his Animagus form, and emerge into an otherwise inaccessible cave. While Sirius attempted to get inside, Peter would recuperate. And should the other man actually succeed in gaining entry, well, the rat had one last failsafe in the form of an illegal portkey, one that would take him to a muggle town not too far away.

If even that did not do the trick... Losing a finger would be painful, but worth it if the Wizarding World assumed him dead.

Focused intently on his plan, Peter did not notice the newcomer emerging from a copse of trees to his left. The first he realized that someone else was there came in the form of the Tripping Jinx that sent him to the ground.

"Do not move, Mister Pettigrew." Minerva McGonagall said coldly as she stepped forward. Peter opened his mouth to spin some lie, beg her to release him before Sirius arrived, only for the Hogwarts professor to conjure a gag for him.

Then the furious Auror arrived.

"Hold, Mister Black," Minerva called before the man could run into her. He stopped short, breathing heavily and staring at the witch. Then Sirius' gaze switched to Peter, and he growled.

"Let me kill him."

"No."

"Dammit, Minerva, you don't know what he's done-!"

"He betrayed James and Lily to the Dark Lord." Both men jerked as if struck, looking at her with wide eyes.

"But- but how do you-?"

Sighing, Minerva cast a stunning spell at Peter where he still lay on the ground, and thus removed the third pair of ears from listening from what she was about to explain. "Sirius. Were you behind this? Did you convince the Potters to switch Secret Keepers from you to Pettigrew?"

"No! I mean, I did, but I thought- it was going to be a trick! The Death Eaters were supposed to suspect _me,_ come after _me,_ only I wouldn't be able to break and tell them anything, so the Potters would stay safe..." As he spoke, Sirius slowly sank to his knees, tears spilling down his face. "They were supposed to be _safe_. _Peter_ was supposed to keep them safe. But now they're all d-dead, and it's m-my f-fa-ault."

"Oh, laddie," the elderly witch sighed, coming over to kneel as well, setting both her hands on either side of Sirius' head and forcing him to look at her. "They aren't all dead."

"H-huh?"

"Lily got out with Harry, Sirius. They're alive, and Lily told me everything."

"They- they are? She is? She did?" Hope was rekindling itself in Sirius' eyes, and Minerva was very glad to see it instead of the mad despair.

"Yes, my boy. They're hiding with the Longbottoms right now. And, after we've gotten Pettigrew handed over to the Ministry, I'll take you to see them." With a wild, relieved sob, the man dove forward to wrap his arms around her, hugging the witch as tightly as he could. Minerva let him, perfectly willing to give Sirius whatever comfort he needed before the time came again for staunch expressions and dignity.

-CE-

Remus couldn't bring himself to move. And unlike the previous day, it wasn't because he was too worn out from his transformation under the full moon.

No, this time it was because he was stuck staring at the man sitting on the chair opposite him. Sirius had arrived that morning, apparently coming straight from seeing Lily and Harry. He'd explained the entire, terrible story to his old friend, backed up by a letter the woman had sent to Remus the day before, which the man hadn't yet opened.

James was dead. Peter had been arrested and locked up.

The Marauders were broken.

"What now, Moony?" Sirius finally asked, his voice strained. In response, Remus finally hauled himself to his feet. He went to his friend's side, crouched, and wrapped an arm around the other man's shoulders.

"We live," came the simple answer. "We live, for Prongs, for Lily and Harry. We make sure nothing else happens to them, like he'd want us to."

They grieved, then. But by noon, the two men had regained control of themselves, and went to visit Lily and her son - the Potters who lived.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Frowning at the parchment, Lily tweaked her Arithmancy numbers, adjusting the internal matrix of her new spell. Hopefully, with this alteration, it would stop spitting out excess energy when channeled.

The woman stood and held the spell design up, aiming it towards the far wall. She then tapped the parchment in a rotating pattern with her wand, arranging her magical energy appropriately.

" _Ostende mihi, sanguinem sanguine meo,"_ she intoned, releasing the parchment and letting it fall to the floor. In its place, a shimmering copy of the spell matrix remained, the lines glowing gold and the symbols in silver. With a final swirl of her wand, Lily sent the whole lot onto the stone wall, where it morphed into a circular shape. In the center of the spell, an image formed: Harry and Neville playing outside on the lawn with Sirius in his dog form.

Smiling, Lily ended the spell, satisfied that it was finally working properly. This one had taken her a few months to put together, whereas the smaller charms she usually created would only require a couple weeks of intensive effort.

With Harry approaching his fourth birthday, though, the woman wanted to make sure she had a way to always check and see what he was up to. Sirius had been blatantly encouraging the boy's mischievous streak, to Lily's irritation, and it was always a flip of the coin whether he went by Padfoot or Moony's example when told to behave.

"Hello? Any half-mad witches down here?" Frank suddenly stuck his head in through the doorway.

"Not half-mad, I'm afraid, but certainly full-mad." Grinning, Lily tucked her wand back in its holster and went to greet the man. "Harry and Nev are out back with Sirius."

"Ah, good, I thought this house was much too quiet. Had me a bit worried at first, I'll admit." The two of them stepped back out of Lily's workroom, heading through the kitchen to the back door. Outside the secluded cottage, sundown was swiftly approaching, and dinnertime with it.

"Anything new from the Auror office?" Lily asked casually, waving to Padfoot in order to get his attention. The dog saw her, transformed, and then Sirius gleefully snatched up the two boys in order to carry them back towards the house on his shoulders.

"There is, actually. Tomorrow's _Daily Prophet_ is going to predominantly feature the tale of the capture of the Lestrange brothers, Rodolphus and Rabastan, courtesy of Aurors Alastor Moody and Alice Longbottom."

"Really? The both of them?!"

"Mm-hm, though Bellatrix and Crouch Jr. are still at large. Still, the brothers are to be tried immediately and sentenced for the attack on and torture of Arthur and Molly Weasley."

"Good. I'm glad that family will finally have at least some of their justice." It had been a horrible shock years before to the magical community when it was discovered that the small group of Death Eaters had gone and attacked an innocent family (one with only the barest of connections to the Order of the Phoenix), looking for information on Voldemort's death. While the seven Weasley children escaped mostly unharmed, their parents were not so lucky. "Have Gideon and Fabian been told yet?"

"That's what Alice is up to right now since I volunteered to come get Neville. Speaking of-!" Frank grinned when his son ran up to him, babbling at a hundred miles an hour about what games and adventures they'd played that day.

"Merlin's beard, Longbottom, what have you been feeding that kid?" Sirius groaned as he also set Harry on the ground, letting the second boy run to his mother as well. "I tried to get these two tuckered out for dinner, but they gave _me_ the runaround instead!"

"That happens," the other man said dryly, tickling his son's side as he did so. "You should see the struggles we go through at bedtime."

"Think I'll pass, thanks."

"See, now? Padfoot _is_ capable of learning self-preservation tactics," Lily teased. Sirius responded by poking his tongue out at her, which caused Harry to giggle.

"Speaking of dinner, would you all care to join us?"

"Well now, Frank, I think that depends - is your utterly intimidating mother going to be present as well? Because I'm convinced that woman hates my guts."

"Don't be silly, Sirius, it's only your family she despises." Frank said with a wink. "And no, she's visiting my uncle this week."

"In that case, _I_ for one would love to accept your invitation. Lily?"

"Ah, why not. I've finished with my spell-tinkering today."

"Oh? Something else you're going to patent and publish in Witch Weekly?"

"Patent, certainly, but I might just keep this one among our circle. It's a scrying spell to seek out the caster's intended blood relative."

Both men made an _ah_ sound, nodding as their friend's foresight once again made itself known. If there was one thing Lily was good at, it was thinking ahead, especially where Harry was concerned.

-CE-

For Harry's seventh birthday, Lily reluctantly allowed Sirius to get the boy a top of the line broomstick. Not only did she then make the mistake of allowing him to ride it all day during and after the small party, but compounded that error by giving Minerva the chance to witness his aerial acrobatics.

"The lad's a natural, Lily!" The grey haired witch gushed, watching Harry spin above them with awe and glee. "He's inherited all of James' talent and more!"

Frowning, Lily cast a sideways look at her old mentor. "...You know you aren't allowed to put him on your Quidditch team until _after_ he starts at Hogwarts, right?"

Minerva just made a dismissive gesture, never taking her eyes off the seven year old.

" _And_ that he might not even be in Gryffindor for you to take advantage of his talent?"

At that, the Transfiguration Mistress turned an incredulous eye onto the younger woman. "Whyever wouldn't he be in Gryffindor, my girl?"

"Well, you and I have both noticed he loves the study projects I give him. Maybe he'll be in Ravenclaw."

"He may love to work on _your_ assignments, Lily, but you and I both know Harry doesn't always concern himself with knowing the right answer when it comes to his muggle school."

"I'm also getting him to look ahead and plan for different contingencies, Minerva. That might be enough to land him in Slytherin."

"With the boy's natural boldness? I think not. You might turn him into a strategist, my dear, but a snake that does not alone make."

"What about Hufflepuff?"

"Now you're just grasping at straws." Minerva smiled, looking back to the sky, and where Harry was easily out-flying both Sirius and Frank. "No, Lily, I'm quite confident your son will be in the House of Lions, just like his parents, where he's meant to be. And I can't wait to see how well he does on the Quidditch Pitch."

"Hm. Just don't count your dragons before they hatch." Even with her reality check for the older witch, though, Lily had to admit that Harry's natural skill and enjoyment of flying was significant. But whether he agreed to be on his school House's Quidditch team or not remained to be seen.

-CE-

Not long after they each turned ten, Lily, Alice and Frank sat their boys down for a long-awaited explanation. They started with their roles in the Order of the Phoenix, striking back at Voldemort's forces where and when they could during the war. Then came the prophecy made by Sybil Trelawney, how there was the potential for either Harry or Neville to fit its requirements, and the knowledge that at least part of the verse had reached the Dark Lord's ears.

"We all went into hiding after that, to keep the both of you safe," Lily said softly. "Frank and Alice found an abandoned property they bought and fixed up, while Professor Dumbledore gave James and I his old family home in Godric's Hollow. Both locations were placed under the Fidelius Charm, to ensure absolute secrecy."

"Your Gran was our Secret Keeper, Neville." Frank spoke up. "We knew without a doubt that the stubborn old woman would die before revealing where we were hiding." The boy straightened up with pride in his grandmother, a lady who normally intimidated him into silence.

"We were going to go with your Uncle Sirius, Harry, but he insisted on switching at the last minute - said that he'd be too obvious, that the Death Eaters would target him first in order to get the secret. So, we decided to chose another man who'd been one of the Marauders: Peter Pettigrew."

"Wormtail," Harry guessed. "I remember Uncle Remus mentioning him once."

"That's right. Except... Wormtail betrayed us. He'd been a spy for Voldemort all along." Forcing her voice to remain steady, Lily explained the rest of what had happened, about Peter waiting until a night the Potters would be alone before he left to give the information to his Master. Harry's eyes got a bit watery during the description of his father's final stand, but then sharpened with pride as his mum described how she blew Voldemort to smithereens. "Some of the shrapnel managed to nick us both, my love, that's where my shoulder scars and the ones on your cheek came from."

"Is that why you two never go to Diagon Alley with us?" Neville suddenly asked. "Because people might recognize you?"

"That's almost right, Nev; after that night, most of the wizarding world assumed that Harry and I had died along with Voldemort. And I've been just fine with leaving them in dark." She had, a few years later, been badgered into sending a letter to Dumbledore, letting the man know she and Harry had survived, but not giving him any more information than that. Minerva told her a couple of days afterward that the Headmaster had been quite shocked upon attempting to inform his Deputy of the news, only to be told she already knew.

"But, when I go to Hogwarts..."

"Our secret will be revealed." Lily finished her son's thought with a small smile. "It's going to mean quite a few changes for us, Harry, but we'll be just fine. We have, after all, the best extended family anyone could ask for."

And they did, too: Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Neville, Minerva, even the Dursleys, on the annual trips Lily and Harry made to visit them. Being quite large for his age, Dudley would often be picked on at school, and so grew delighted when his cousin was around and could help use small bouts of magic to mess with the bullies. Lily sincerely hoped that Harry's relationship with Dudley would be far more relaxed and cordial than her own had been with Petunia as girls.

She was brought back to the present moment when her son hopped up off the sofa and moved to hug her as tightly as he could.

"Love you, Mum."

"And I love you, Harry, with all my heart.

 _A/N: Gonna be six updates today, seven if I can whip out a new Wild chapter by tonight. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!_


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The day had finally arrived. Harry was going to Hogwarts.

Lily had opted to apparate to London with him, as both Remus and Sirius were unable to get out of working, and then the two walked the last few blocks to King's Cross Station, Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage shrunken down and stuck in her pocket.

The snowy owl hadn't been part of Lily's list of things to make sure her son had for school, but was included thanks to Hagrid unexpectedly showing up at their house on the boy's eleventh birthday with the bird in tow. While happy to see the man, Lily had at the same time been internally fuming, with Minerva not far behind.

"I should have known better," the Transfiguration mistress muttered to her former student at one point during the small party. "Albus almost never visits me while I'm preparing the first years' letters - he must have shown up just to get a peek at Harry's, and so learn where you two were living-"

"What's done is done, Minnie," Lily sighed. "All he seems to have done with the information so far is send Hagrid with a birthday present." Across the backyard, Hagrid's booming voice could be heard regaling Harry and Neville with stories about great Gryffindors, while the other adults looked on.

"Hmph. That man always has his own reasons for doing things, Lily, and he's become a master of utilizing any bit of information he can glean."

"Well, perhaps he simply wants Harry to be in Gryffindor as much as you do."

They'd left it at that, and tried to enjoy the small family get-together for what it was. Hagrid wound up departing after not too long, saying he had to go pick something up from Gringotts for the Headmaster. The boys eagerly promised to see him soon, and spent a great deal of the remainder of the afternoon admiring the snowy owl and feeding her treats - at least until Sirius warned that too many would make her too fat to fly. Hedwig didn't much appreciate that comment, dive bombing Sirius in order to prove it, which just set everyone else off laughing.

The month between that day and the current one saw Harry bond with his new familiar, pack and re-pack his trunk at least a dozen times, review all his mother's old first year textbooks as well as his new ones, and just about bounce off the walls with excitement.

In truth, Lily was greatly relieved to finally be taking her son to the train station.

"Come on love, we're almost-"

"Lily? Is that you?" Turning, the woman cast her eyes over the nearby crowd, and lit up with a grin upon spotting the man who'd called out to her.

"Fabian! It's good to see you." She gave the tall redhead a hug when he joined them.

"And I can't believe I'm seeing you! Ten years, Lily, what brings you out of- oh, _I_ see." Smiling, Fabian Prewett bent over slightly to better see his old comrade's son. "You must be Harry. Blimey, I can't believe I lost track of how old he'd be."

"Well, with seven children to look out for yourself, I can hardly blame you!" Lily laughed.

"Ah, now you've lost track, Lils - it's only five now, since Bill and Charlie got themselves graduated and off to new lives."

"That's right, I remember now. What about the others, and Gideon, I assume they're around here somewhere?"

"Should be getting here in just a moment. I went on ahead with assorted luggage items," Fabian pulled open the large bag he was holding, showing off the assorted shrunken trunks within. "There was bit of a fit outside, since Ginny's not happy about being the only one left behind with me and Gid."

"Oh dear."

"Nah, little tyke will get over it as soon as she realizes she'll have our undivided attention over the next several months. And lo and behold, here they come!" A wave of redheads were plowing their way across the crowded train platforms, heading straight to where the trio were standing still.

"Fab! You daft old coot, you were supposed to go all the way through th- bloody hell, is that Lily?!"

"Good to see you're making sure to watch your language around impressionable children, Gideon." She snorted, also hugging the second man to approach.

The Prewett twins hadn't changed much over the past decade, still enjoying wearing their ridiculous riot of clashing colors, though the wild hairstyles had been tamed back a bit. Behind them, the five present Weasley children were watching with interest, each dressed a bit more modestly than their uncles. It wasn't until the tallest of them coughed that Fabian and Gideon realized they needed to perform some introductions.

"Right, Lils, these are what remain of our sprogs: Percy here with the glasses, he's a Prefect this year, the two handsomely identical devils are Fred and George, this is Ron in the Chudley Cannons shirt, and last but by no means least, our littlest troublemaker Ginny." Fabian proudly went through the list, each of the children nodding as their names were called.

"Kids, you remember whenever we'd mention that fantastically fearsome friend of ours who invented the Within-a-Wall-Window Charm, the one who's been in hiding since the War?" Gideon went on. "Well, this is her, Lady Lily, and I do believe her son Harry as well."

"Hi," Lily's son piped up, grinning tentatively at the group. They all gave him smiles of varying strengths in return, and then Fabian clapped his hands together.

"Right now, time to go through the divider before we all get locked out - don't want to repeat that incident from our own fourth year, do we Fadeon?"

"No indeed, Gibian. Come on kids, Percy, you first, and go find a compartment for the younger years to pile into." As the children began hurrying through the magical barrier, Gideon leaned over to mutter in Lily's ear. "We always have them sit together on the train ride, makes everyone feel safer. Harry's welcome to join them, if you want."

"I'd appreciate that, Gid, thank you."

Not ten steps past the other side of the divider, they were hailed by another shout, and then Frank and Alice manifested out of the crowd of parents. "We wondered when you were going to get here, Lily!"

"A bit behind schedule, but we made it."

"Morning Fab, Gid. Good to see you both."

"Same to you, Frank. Little Neville already aboard?"

"Yes, it was so hard to let him step on without us, but we managed." Alice smiled tearfully. "I can't believe the time's come already to send him off to Hogwarts."

"Me neither." Lily gave her a quick hug, before turning to Harry. "Now as for you, young man..."

"Behave myself, don't antagonize anyone, only explain about the scar and our past if I absolutely have to, do my best and have fun."

"Just so." She wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly for a minute.

"Mum, I can't breathe..."

"Alright!" Laughing, Lily released her son and gave him a nudge towards the nearest train car. "Go. And send me a letter as soon as you can stand to do so!"

Re-sized trunk in one hand and Hedwig's empty cage in the other, Harry set off after the group of Weasley boys. Lily paid close attention through the windows until she saw them all settle into a compartment, with her son pressing his nose to the glass, green eyes searching for her. The woman waved, trying not to cry when he grinned and returned the gesture.

A few minutes later, the Hogwarts Express began to pull out of the station, and Lily felt all her pride, fear and worry gather up in an unpleasant ball in her throat. Alice squeezed her right hand, Fabian patted the opposite shoulder, but still the red haired woman's eyes remained on the caboose of the departing train.

All she could see was a little face, green eyes framed by round glasses and a fringe of dark hair, with a pair of parallel scars on his right cheek.

By nightfall, Lily's nerves were at the breaking point. Fabian and Gideon had promised to meet for dinner at some point, but left the station in order to return to their home with Ginny. Frank and Alice, though, promptly took their friend back to her house, hoping to help her through the storm of emotions. This was helped a bit when Sirius and Remus arrived, finally freed from their respective jobs for the day. They each asked how the drop-off at the train went, before joining in with the 'get Lily's mind off her son's absence' ploy.

Which, admittedly, did not succeed in the slightest.

Dinner was assorted leftovers that Frank heated up for everyone, but Lily hardly touched her plate, as she was too busy pacing all around the living and dining rooms.

"Sooner or later, woman, you have to eat." Sirius called to her at one point. Lily just waved a dismissive hand at him, and continued with her pacing.

"I know she places so much time and effort into keeping Harry safe, but I've never seen her _worry_ this much over him," Remus muttered. The others mumbled their agreements, all watching worriedly.

Eventually, Alice got to her feet and walked over. "Lily... You know he'll be fine. The train has more alarm charms than Gringotts, if anyone attacks before he gets to Hogwarts' wards we'll be among the first to know and respond-"

"Erm, Alice, whatever are you going on about?" Lily asked with no little amount of amusement. The other woman blinked, as the did others at the dining room table.

"Harry... It's, well, it's just that we've never seen you so worked up over his being gone. But he'll be _fine,_ Lily, you know he will."

Turning from her friend to face the men where they all sat, Lily had to suppress a snicker. "You all think I'm worried over Harry's _safety_ right now? Don't be daft. I'm _always_ concerned over that boy, but right now I'm more worried about how he's going to react if the Sorting Hat puts him anywhere other than Gryffindor." And with that, she returned to pacing.

The rest of the adults exchanged bemused glances and finally switched from being concerned over their friend to minding their own business.

About nine o'clock or so that evening, there came a soft chime from circular mirror attached to the dividing wall between the kitchen and dining room. Lily hurried over and activated it with a quick word. Everyone gathered around as both Harry and Neville appeared within the mirror, grinning where they sat side by side on one of the Hogwarts dormitory beds.

One with red curtains.

Which was all the confirmation the grown-ups needed to know that their boys had made it into Gryffindor. There were immediate whoops of excitement from Sirius and Frank, hastily shushed by glares from Remus and Alice. Lily, though, simply beamed at her son.

"Congratulations," she told the boys. "But I still insist you tell us everything in a letter."

"And we will, but this was too good to pass up." Harry replied.

"Aunt Minnie gave us each a pat on the shoulder, too!" Added Neville, thoroughly delighted.

"Just remember, you can't call her that when other students are around," Alice warned.

"Except for the last day, when she can't assign you detention anymore."

"Don't be daft, Sirius, Minerva would just come here to give the boys their punishment."

Everyone chuckled as Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius' sheepish expression.

"Alright now, let's let the boys get some sleep, they've got a big day ahead of them." Lily admonished the others. "Goodnight Harry, Neville. I think it's safe to say we're all incredibly proud of you."

"Thank you, Aunt Lily."

"Thanks, Mum. Love you! Goodnight, everyone!"

A quick chorus of _sleep well_ and _good luck_ later, and Lily ended the communication spell.

"Well," she beamed. "I'd say we're off to a wonderful start."

 _A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!_

 _(Next chapter, we'll be seeing Snape's reaction to Harry, and how Lily responds after hearing about it, muahahaha...)_

 _-Tri_


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

While Harry's first letter to her, delivered the next day by Hedwig, showed a lot of promise to the start of the boy's school year, there were also a couple of things that concerned Lily within it. Albus giving strange speeches was nothing new, but warning students away from a particular part of the castle unless they 'wished to die a most gruesome death'? That was bizarre even for the ancient wizard.

More distressing was the way Severus seemed to glower at her son every time they crossed paths. Lily knew how much Harry was looking forward to learning Potions at school, and the sudden cold dread that her former best friend might ruin that for him was heartbreaking. Still, it wasn't something Lily would be able to do anything about until she knew, one way or the other, how Severus' personal prejudices would affect his teaching in the classroom.

Minerva had also written to inform her that Harry had been a minute late to his very first Transfiguration lesson, but since it was due to his and Neville's taking the time to make sure their dormmate Ronald Weasley didn't have a small break-down after becoming lost, she was allowing it to slide for once. Lily smiled, having already seen in her son's letter than he and Neville had been quick to befriend the other boy, who apparently was having a hard time adjusting to boarding school life.

The rest of the week she spent planning out a new work schedule, commiserating and celebrating with the Longbottoms by turns over their boys growing up, and visiting with the Prewetts and their sole niece, a delightful girl who would have reminded Lily a bit more of herself at that age if the child wasn't so lonely without all her brothers. Gideon and Fabian also told her about their two oldest boys, neither of whom was going to be able to visit home for the holidays, sadly. Lily promptly offered to have the whole lot of younger boys over for a few days during the break so that her old friends could take a quick trip to Romania, which they were happy to take her up on. It was expensive, raising seven children, and a short visit for themselves and Ginny would be all the twins could afford. Glad to be of service, Lily promised to start working out the when and how on her calendar.

Then, there came a hiccup in her new, more relaxed lifestyle.

Specifically, a bit of news she received about the actions of her old friend Severus Snape.

After reading Harry's letter at her breakfast on Saturday, Lily was ready to strangle someone. She paced about the house, furiously muttering to herself, before finally going down to the basement and repeatedly destroying and reassembling her training dummies. By lunchtime, she'd calmed down enough to put things in perspective.

Clearly, Severus was having a hard time looking at Harry and distinguishing between him and James. Lily couldn't fault the man for still having a desire to put the leader of his old enemies in his place, but taking out such revenge on an innocent eleven year old was going too far.

She wrote her son back, asking him to tell her about the next Potions lesson as soon as he could. If Severus hadn't shaped up by then, Lily would see about setting him straight herself.

The rest of the weekend went pleasantly enough, as she tweaked some new spells, brewed another wolfsbane potion for Remus, and continued in her efforts to encourage both him and Sirius to ease off on the pranks they still unleashed on unwitting Ministry employees. By Monday, the woman had almost completely forgotten about Harry's first, disastrous Potions class. Then Tuesday night rolled around, and with it, Hedwig, carrying another meticulously penned letter.

Lily read through it twice, before crumpling the parchment in her fist.

She had a letter of her own to write...

-CE-

Over the years, Hogwarts students had seen a great many of their fellows receive Howlers amongst the morning mail, often observing the loud reprimands from irritated parents with either amusement or sympathy. It was one of those things that happened to most students at least once or twice during their education, significantly more than that to a miserable handful, and not at all to a lucky few.

Never, however, had anyone actually witnessed at breakfast in the Great Hall, a Howler being delivered to one of the _professors._

Such a thing was unheard of. The Hogwarts teaching staff were able to receive mail at all hours of the day, and as such it usually went to their private offices, where such unpleasant enchanted envelopes could be dealt with privately.

And yet, that particular Wednesday morning on the second week of classes, a Howler somehow found its way to Professor Snape. And promptly bellowed its message out for the entire Hall to hear.

"SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE!" It shouted, in a furious female voice. Snape instantly went two shades paler than his usual white, and stared at the hovering Howler with a mix of naked shock and wariness. "I'VE IGNORED THE RUMORS ABOUT YOUR TEACHING STYLE FOR TEN YEARS NOW, BUT NOT A MOMENT LONGER! MY SON IS NOT HIS FATHER, SEVERUS, AND YOU HAD DAMN WELL BETTER RECOGNIZE THAT FACT BEFORE I MARCH UP THERE AND INTERRUPT YOUR CLASSES FOR A PERSONAL SHOUTING MATCH TO PROVE IT! AND DON'T YOU DARE TAKE THIS OUT ON HIM OR ANYONE ELSE, BECAUSE I **WILL** KNOW ABOUT IT, AND THE CONSEQUENCES WILL **NOT** BE PLEASANT TO CLEAN UP!"

And with that, the Howler exploded.

The Great Hall was dead silent.

Professor Snape rose without a word, and left.

Harry turned to his friends.

"That," he whispered with a gleeful expression. "Was from my mum."

-CE-

When Harry's next letter arrived, Lily was pleased to see a report on Severus' dramatic lessening of unfair questions and taunts towards her son. He was still being nasty towards other students, as apparently was his want, but at tolerable levels.

With that particular issue resolved for the time being, she was able to focus instead on developing a new shield spell, one that allowed for physical objects to pass through one side but still repelled incoming attacks. The trick was in getting the magical energy to manifest correctly, and then hold its shape...

As usually happened when she was immersed in a new project, Lily completely lost track of the passing time. It wasn't until a knock came from her back door that the woman realized she'd spent the entire day in her workroom.

Sirius had evidently anticipated this, as he held up a picnic basket as an offering when Lily opened the door for him. "And a good evening to you, my dear lady. Might a humble wizard beg a few hours of your company in return for sharing the food he bears?"

"If there's one thing I know about you, Black, it's that you never have been and never will be 'a humble wizard'," Lily chuckled, letting the man in. "But that aside, what did you bring me?"

"Kreacher's finest: a selection of boiled vegetables, slow-roasted chicken, a loaf of that whole wheat bread you like so much, a bottle of wine from my family's cellars and for dessert, fresh-made treacle tart."

"Mm, sounds delicious. Come help me set the table, then, and we can tuck in."

"Your command is my wish, m'lady." He ducked past as Lily made to swat him, her eyes rolling to the ceiling. "Heard from the pup lately?"

"Got a letter from him just this morning, actually. He's doing well, Potions is more tolerable after my subtle intervention, and there are some new friends he's considering asking over during the summer hols next year."

"That all sounds good," Sirius remarked, carrying a couple plates and a handful of silverware into the dining room. "But what's this about you and _subtle_ intervention? The way I heard it, you sent Snape a Howler, and somehow got it to him right in the middle of breakfast at the Great Hall."

"Well, yes. I think the knowledge that I was able to do it once and could potentially do so again is what actually got him to back off of bullying Harry."

Sirius' nose wrinkled up at that. "I still think you should have let me take a team of Aurors to rough him up a bit."

" _No,_ Padfoot. Bad dog. Severus has just turned into a bitter old man before his time, that's not something to go harass him over. Besides, he'd file a report with your superiors, and have you out on probation, maybe even dismissed entirely."

"Be worth it..."

"No it wouldn't, and don't you dare think about going through with it anyway. That's not the sort of example you should be making for Harry."

"Alright, _fine,_ woman!" Sirius held his hands up in surrender. "Have it your way. Can we eat now?"

"Sometimes, the way your train of thought switches tracks amazes me... _Yes,_ Sirius, we can eat now."

-CE-

When Lily heard Minerva calling for her from the Floo on the night of October thirty first, she was expecting an offer of a shared toast to James and all others who'd lost their lives battling Voldemort, as was their tradition.

What the older witch told her instead, though, nearly sent Lily through the roof.

Calling Remus and Sirius out of the dining room where they'd been cleaning up from dinner, the woman had to force herself to calm down in order to tell them just why they were all about to go through the fireplace to Hogwarts.

"A troll got into the castle," she grit out. "And Harry and Neville went after it."

 _A/N: How's that for a cliffhanger? :D_

 _Anywho, hope you all have had a good winter so far - mine's been alright, but tomorrow I need to drive four hours south in order to go to court over the couple of citations I got last Thanksgiving, when I was driving through a snowstorm, hit a patch of ice, slid to the side of the road and rolled my truck. Not fun. Even less fun was receiving the ticket for 'no valid proof of insurance' (which I DID have, I just couldn't FIND it after my truck did a 360 barrel roll and everything got tossed around), and especially the one for 'careless driving'. I was being damn careful! How's it my fault I have next to no experience handling icy conditions and had an accident just the same as native New Mexico and Colorado drivers?!_

 _Well, I wish you all a better tomorrow than I'm going to have, and see you for the next update,_

 _-Tri_


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"But we had to go find Hermione, Mum!"

"She didn't know about the troll, Aunt Lily, it would have gotten her if we weren't there!"

"And _why_ couldn't you have simply _told_ a _teacher?"_

"They'd all disappeared as soon as the prefects got up to take us back to the dorms."

"What about informing a _prefect_ then?"

"We told Ron to go tell his brother Percy, but they had to worry about _all_ the students, not just Hermione!"

Throwing her hands up in the air out of frustration, Lily paced back and forth before the pair of infirmary beds her son and godson were occupying. Neither of the boys was seriously hurt, thank Merlin, but they weren't backing down from their position, either. Off to one side, Remus, Sirius, and Frank were all content to stand back and let Lily get her fury out in one go before they tried to intervene. Minerva had already told them, privately, that it was entirely likely that without Harry and Neville's interference, Hermione Granger would indeed have been killed by that troll before the professors could arrive from the dungeons.

Getting Lily to see that, though, while still coming down from the unpleasant place her fear had taken her would be a challenge and a half.

"You're not getting out of this without a punishment, I hope you both realize that," the red haired woman growled, still pacing. "Points removed or not, I'm going to insist you each get at least one detention, and then you will both be _grounded_ during winter holidays, and don't you dare think for a second your mother won't agree with me on this Neville Franklin Longbottom!" In the silence that followed Lily's final outburst, one could have heard a pin drop in the infirmary.

Which was why the quiet cough from the main doors instantly attracted everyone's attention.

Dumbledore was standing there, flanked by Severus and Minerva, all of whom looked more than a little shocked to actually _see_ Lily at Hogwarts, though for various reasons, of course.

The Transfiguration Mistress was the first to move, hurrying forward as she glanced over the boys. Seeing that they were fine, she then focused on the irate redhead. "I do appreciate your enthusiasm in reprimanding the lads, Lily, but I think your punishments are a wee bit over the top in this instance."

Lily glared, ignoring the derisive snort that came from Sirius. "I don't, Minerva. I've spent too long trying to teach Harry not to rush into dangerous situations to simply let this side, and Neville knows better as well."

"My dear girl," Dumbledore interjected, moving towards her as well. "Surely their success outweighs the initial wrongdoing in this matter-"

"Albus." He prudently stop talking when Lily glared. "You and your staff can handle this as you wish. But the consequences I assign to the boys outside of school is none of your business or concern."

"Of course, my dear. Well, seeing as their scrapes have been suitably looked after, perhaps it is time to send the boys off to bed?"

"What about Hermione?" Neville asked, both he and Harry glancing towards a bed further down the row, where a bushy-haired girl was fast asleep.

"She'll be quite safe here, and with that Calming Draught in her system, won't be waking up until morning anyway," Madam Pomfrey said firmly, emerging from her office. "And I quite agree with the Headmaster, it's past time for you boys to be asleep."

Neville nodded, sliding off of his bed and joining Minerva, getting a pat on the shoulder from his dad as he went by. Harry paused before following, as he looked up at his glowering mother. "I'm sorry, Mum."

Lily continued to scowl. "And what will you do if something like this happens again?"

"Go get a teacher."

"Good. Because if you don't, it'll be no broomstick or quidditch for a year." Both Sirius and Minerva's heads whipped around at that, to stare at Lily with just as much horror as her son.

Still standing by the main doors, Severus let out a single bark of laughter.

The woman transferred her glare to him. "Severus. A word, if you will." Everyone else went ahead and dispersed at her cold tone, Minerva leading the boys out while the men took shelter in Madam Pomfrey's office. Even Albus subtly left the infirmary, letting the doors ease shut behind him.

"...I apologize for my behaviour towards your son when the term started," the man said after a while, when it became obvious Lily wouldn't be making the first move. "After ten years of blaming myself for your death, having him suddenly arrive was, a shock, to say the least."

"And the fact that he looks so much like James didn't help either, I know." Sighing as her intense emotions deflated, Lily took a seat on the nearest bed. "I've often wondered how I'm going to cope as he moves into his teenage years."

"You'll manage. You always do." Carefully, Severus moved to sit on the bed opposite her.

"Why do you even teach here at all?" Lily suddenly asked. "I know you can't possibly be happy with this life."

"I'm not. But it's the only employment I could find after _he_ was defeated. Besides which, Albus claims he'll need me if-" The sudden halt caused the woman to look up at him.

"If what, Severus?"

"...if the Dark Lord ever returns."

Those six words were very nearly enough to send Lily into another fit. It took Severus a good long while to calm her down again, and then of course he had to explain about Dumbledore's suspicions, and the trap the old wizard had gotten all the teachers to help him set inside the school. "I went to check, as soon as that idiot Quirrel delivered the news about the troll, and nearly got bitten for my troubles."

"What's the old fool playing at?" Lily demanded, back to pacing. "Putting the children at risk, and for what? To capture a wraith that might not even be here at all?!"

"Most of the students will be smart enough to avoid the third floor after his Welcoming Feast comment about a 'gruesome death'. The Gryffindors, on the other hand..."

Lily felt like banging her head against a stone wall. "Of course. That's why he wanted Hagrid at Harry's birthday party, to share stories that made him to want to be in Gryffindor, around others who'll encourage the 'charge first, think later' mentality. _And_ why he doesn't want anyone punishing Harry too much for following through on that exact course of action."

"Rather manipulative of a man who used to be in Gryffindor himself," Severus added under his breath.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Albus? Or the Dark Lord?"

"Both, if I have to! I lost my husband because of those two, I'm not going to lose my son as well!" Finally at the end of her emotional rope, Lily stopped pacing, closing her eyes and hunching in on herself. "I can't lose Harry too."

A hand, very tentatively, touched her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Severus standing beside her, a pained expression on his face.

"I swear to you, Lily, on my magic, I'll do everything I can to keep him from getting hurt or killed." After a moment, she nodded her acceptance of the promise.

"And, I'm sorry, Severus, for ignoring you for sixteen years. I thought you'd become a different man, someone I wouldn't recognize and couldn't trust. Obviously, I thought wrong."

"I wouldn't say I'm not different," he wearily informed her, prompting a smile from the woman.

"Maybe certain elements are different, but you're still the same boy who respected intelligence above all else and couldn't stand dunderheads who stirred their cauldrons the wrong way."

Severus coughed, trying to ignore his embarrassment.

"Which reminds me - whatever happened to the things I taught you about positive reinforcement? Trying to scare your students into behaving in a dangerous environment is all well and good, but what happens when they become too scared to innovate?"

"The true potential Potions Masters among them don't become too scared-"

When Madam Pomfrey poked her head out of her office half an hour later, long after the three men hiding within had all Flooed home, it was to discover the Dungeon Bat of Hogwarts in the middle of an intense discussion with Lily Potter considering the benefits of retaining an old and known-to-be outdated textbook as opposed to an updated one with revised and tweaked formulas. Shaking her head, the Mediwitch retreated again, with a plan in mind to Stun the pair if they'd not yet departed by midnight.


	8. Chapter 7

_A door slowly creaks open._

 _Two pale hands emerge to set down a very,_ very _tardy update._

 _They swiftly withdraw, and the door closes once more._

Chapter 7

"You-Know-Who is in the castle?!" Ron's startled yelp had Harry and Neville hurrying to hush him, glancing over their shoulders to make certain no one heard. Thankfully, the hallway where they'd pulled their friend aside to explain the situation remained deserted.

"That's what we heard Professor Snape say," the latter whispered. "It's why they put that Cerberus on the third floor, and a whole bunch of other traps behind it."

"But they don't know where he's hiding, so it's a waiting game," Harry added.

"Which is why we want to go a step further, to try and find out where he is-"

"-but for that we need the Marauder's Map, and I'm pretty sure your brothers have it."

Ron snorted, his fear slowly draining away. "Good luck getting it, then, because the twins hate giving up any of their things."

"That's why we need _your_ help." Harry ignored the redhead's groan. "We need you to distract them long enough for us to search through the third year boy's dormitory to find it."

"You're both barmy. They'll know what I'm up to, they _always_ know."

"Sounds like you could use some outside assistance, then." The three boys froze, and slowly turned to see Hermione Granger standing just a few feet away from them, hands on her hips and a challenging look on her face.

"...How long have you been listening to us?"

"Long enough. How did you spy on Professor Snape?"

Harry and Neville exchanged a wary look. "We stayed outside the infirmary last night while he was talking to my mum. The Headmaster saw us when he left, but didn't say a word, just left the doors open a crack."

The girl let loose a sharp _hmph,_ before stepping closer, able to lower her voice and still be heard though not quite part of their huddle. "Look, I'm not one much for breaking rules, but from what I heard last night, the Headmaster has _clearly_ overstepped his bounds and failed in his duty to keep the students safe."

"From what you heard?" Harry asked warily.

"I didn't drink all of Madam Pomfrey's potion, so I woke up during your mother's ranting, and pretended to still be asleep." Hermione's fierce expression was briefly twisted by a grimace. "She's _very_ loud. Anyway, a lot of what she and Professor Snape said afterward was, fuzzy, and I dozed off again when they changed topics to the Potions textbook, but I can recall enough - there's a wraith that needs to be caught, before it finds a way past the defenses on the third floor."

Sharing another brief look with Neville, Harry faced the girl straight on. "And you want to help us, why?"

Again, her face briefly fell, but then Hermione grit her teeth and stood higher. "You saved my life by ignoring rules. It seems the least I can do to help save yours by doing the same."

Harry glanced at Neville. Neville shrugged back. Ron's gaze darted between the both of them, eyes wide. Finally, the first boy looked back to Hermione... and held out a hand. "It would probably be shorter to just say, because we're friends."

With that, she beamed, grasping his hand in her own for a brief shake. "Friends, then."

-CE-

The rest of the fall and first month of winter passed quietly, both at Hogwarts and the Potter Home. Lily continued her days of running the house, tending her garden and little bit of woodland, crafting new spells and practicing old, and of course engaging in near-constant correspondence with friends and especially her son.

When not writing his own replies and reports, Harry threw himself into schoolwork, keeping his scores high and his nose clean, ignoring taunts from the likes of Draco Malfoy while also defending other, weaker targets from the same. Neville was his constant companion, as always, while Ron Weasley started to grow comfortable enough around the pair he didn't constantly feel like an extra, unnecessary limb. Hermione, too, became close enough to the trio she counted all three boys as her friends. They shared benches at meals and in class, did their homework together, and in the quiet evenings when no one else paid them the slightest attention, researched ways to trap, contain, and destroy a wraith. The third floor corridor they didn't concern themselves with _overly_ much, though Ron was able to gain his older brothers as allies, and Fred and George Weasley filled the hall before the Door of the Cerberus will all manner of boobytraps and unpleasant pranks. These were also tied to the communication mirrors Neville and Harry constantly carried, so that they could be alerted if the traps were sprung.

In the meantime, they also had winter plans to hash out.

"We'll like as not still be grounded, so you two will just have to come visit us both," Harry declared one afternoon. "But I'll work on getting Mum to cave before Boxing Day, so we can all spend it together."

Just before winter break began, however, there was _one_ bit of personal excitement. In the last Quidditch match of the term, the Gryffindor Seeker, a small fourth year girl with only the barest of talent at the game, had been knocked from her broom. The subsequent fall resulted in two overnight stays in the infirmary, followed by her quitting the team due to "mental strain and an ill fit." Since then, Professor McGonagall had been questing for a new Seeker, as the entire castle knew.

Unable to find one in the upper years, she approached Harry.

The day before students were to depart the castle, he flew over the Pitch with Oliver Wood, who landed an hour later and flat out begged Professor McGonagall to lift the rule against first year Quidditch players. She could only promise to take up the matter with the lad's mother.

Following through on that, it was the Professor who saw off her students from the Hogsmeade train station... and Auntie Minnie who met them outside King's Crossing several hours later, as the sun was nearing wintertime sunset. She went home with Harry and Lily Potter, allowing them time to reconnect while she helped prepare dinner, then took up the matter of Quidditch over dessert.

Lily stared at her from across the table, eyebrows raised and lips upturned at the corners. "You," she pronounced, "Are a sneaky old cat."

"The very sneakiest," Minerva replied, her voice and face completely deadpan. Harry was forced to muffle his giggles.

The elder Potter didn't give her old mentor an answer that night, nor through the rest of the winter holidays. She thought about it, as Harry practiced on his personal broomstick, catching toy snitches when alone and Chasing a quaffle when joined by the Longbottoms, the Weasleys, Hermione, and his favorite uncles, Padfoot and Moony.

Minerva visited twice more, for the Potters' Boxing Day feast, and for a quiet cup of tea towards the end of the break, when Harry was off with his friends at the Longbottom estate.

"Tell me more about the traps Albus has set up," Lily insisted. And Minerva did, less because of a desire to win the younger woman's goodwill, and more because it was a serious matter, one that could quite easily concern her son.

In the end, Harry Potter returned to Hogwarts energized by his visit home, eager to resume studies both regular and secret, and ecstatic to have a Quidditch permission slip in one hand, a brand new Nimbus 2000 in the other.

-CE-

"The first spring Quidditch match, perhaps?"

" _Yes... Yes, that will do. No doubt someone will catch the boy before he falls too far, but I would wipe the confidence from his steps. Soon enough, we will arrange a proper death for the brat."_

"Of course, my lord. Once your body is restored, I'll bring him to you myself."

" _Excellent."_


End file.
